1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for reducing the number of bits of a digital input signal, comprising the steps of adding a pseudo-random noise signal to the digital input signal to obtain an intermediate signal, the pseudo-random noise signal being defined by noise parameters, and quantizing the intermediate signal, having a word length of n bits, to a reduced word-length signal, having a word length of m bits, n being larger than or equal to m. In a further aspect, the present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus comprising a pseudo-random noise generator for generating a noise signal being defined by noise parameters, an addition element connected to the noise generator for adding the noise signal to a digital input signal to provide an intermediate signal, and a first quantizing element connected to the addition element for transforming the intermediate signal, having a word length of n bits, into a reduced word-length signal, having a word length of m bits, n being larger than or equal to m.
2. Description of the Related Art
British Patent Application No. GB-A-2 293 297 describes an apparatus for processing an input digital signal with a word length of 32 bits to generate an output digital signal of a lower resolution (16 bits). Before converting the digital signal to an output digital signal with the lower resolution, pseudo-random noise is added to the input digital signal. Adding the noise results in a dithering of the signal, in order to smooth out the harsh linear transfer function of the 32-bit to 16-bit quantizer. When reproducing the digital signal, the identical noise signal is subtracted from the recorded signal to provide a substantially noise-free 16-bit signal. Synchronization of the noise signal and the digital signal is achieved by regenerating an indicator signal from the recorded signal.
Present day quantization of signals for recording on a recording medium, such as compact discs, is limited to 16 bits, resulting in a maximum dynamic range of only 96 dB. Although it is possible to use the same recording techniques for recording digital signals with a larger word length and thus higher dynamic range, such a recording would not be compatible with older systems for replay. The method and system described in GB-A-2 293 297 improve the quality of playback of the signal by adding noise to the signal before quantizing, but as the synchronization and noise parameter data are included in the recorded signal, identical copying of the recorded signal is possible.